CRYSLER – A day after Finch & District Lions Club hosted a Wind Power Information Night in Finch, EDP Renewables Canada provided North Stormont residents with a community information evening in the Crysler Community Centre on May 7.

But the English-only documentation and presentations by the American developer in francophone Crysler came off as a cultural faux pas by some observers at the event.

Director of Development for EDP Canada Tom LoTurco explained that the evening was planned “to get the information on the project we are proposing out to the general public” and Ken Little, EDP Renewables Project Manager, commented that it was a coincidence that the Crysler meeting was held the day after the Finch event as the Crysler Community Centre had been reserved in early to mid-April for this meeting by his company.

Around 70 local residents listened as representatives of EDP Renewables explained the process whereby their company will submit a proposal to the Independent Electrical System Operator in Ontario regarding the planned construction of 20-40 turbine wind farm in this predominately agricultural township.

According to Ken Little, EDP Renewables is planning to submit a bid to the IESO for a wind farm in the 50-100 MW range but the size will be determined once more information is provided to stakeholders by the IESO in the coming weeks.

In response to questions as to why locate a wind farm in North Stormont, Little explained that many factors such as physical geography or lease availability are considered. There were a number of strategically placed maps which provided a view of the probable location of wind turbines in the township. The planned construction corridor flowed north – south and was mainly west of Berwick, Crysler and Finch close to the North Dundas-North Stormont municipal boundary.

There were many opponents to the proposed North Stormont wind farm at the meeting who were not hesitant in letting the company representatives and others in attendance know their opinions. Some of the more common comments were of the “not in my back yard” variety, while others questioned the need for wind technology in power generation and the high cost of electricity was a matter of grave concern to many in attendance. Discussion related to the future need of alternatives to nuclear power generated electricity, some residents mentioned that increasing the power generation at hydro (or water) stations such as at Niagara Falls might be more cost effective.

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article is owned by the author or publisher indicated. Its availability here constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law as well as in similar "fair dealing" exceptions of the copyright laws of other nations, as part of National Wind Watch's noncommercial effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information. For more information, click here. Send takedown inquiry or request to excerpt to query/wind-watch.org. Send general inquiries and comments to query/wind-watch.org.